Customers who have a bank account with certain companies have been alerted that their provider could be "leaving open doors for scammers" to exploit them when they bank online.
A study carried out by consumer experts at Which? and security experts at Red Maple Technologies looked at 13 of the biggest account providers to assess their security when it comes to online and mobile banking. The assessment looked at four key categories - login, encryption, account management, and navigation and logout - to see which banks have the best protections in place.
Virgin Money scored the lowest overall for both online and app banking. Which? also expressed concerns over TSB, which fared second-worst in the study for app banking, and Nationwide, which came above Virgin at the bottom for online banking security. At the other end of the scale, Starling Bank received the highest score for online banking while HSBC came out on top for app security.
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Sam Richardson, Which? Money deputy editor, said of the results: "Banks should not be leaving these open doors for scammers to exploit and must up their game to protect their customers properly. By making improvements, such as blocking weak passwords, banks can take an important step in preventing unscrupulous fraudsters from attempting to steal money and personal data from consumers."
Which? urged customers who bank online or via an app to ensure they keep their money safe by following key safety advice, which includes avoiding clicking on hyperlinks or downloading attachments they receive as part of unexpected emails, texts or WhatsApp messages. Scammers may pose as your bank in order to steal sensitive data or trick you into sending money, even going so far as to create fake websites to impersonate your bank.
Other advice from the consumer experts includes using up-to-date security or antivirus software on your laptop, phone and any other devices you use. They also advise setting up a screen auto-lock for your phone and disabling lock screen notifications to stop any criminals accessing your private information.
A spokesperson for Virgin Money said: "The safety and security of our banking services is our top priority, and we are continually monitoring, assessing and improving our security controls. "A number of the points raised in this research relate to decisions we’ve taken to enhance the digital user experience while ensuring our robust, multi-layered controls remain in place to protect customers’ accounts."
A spokesperson for TSB said: "We continue to invest in our online and mobile services – and work with globally leading tech firms to deliver both security and accessibility to our customers. TSB also tracks well across the industry on fraud prevention and we are the only bank that protects its customers with a guarantee to return their money should they ever fall victim to fraud."
A spokesperson for Nationwide said: "Nationwide takes the security of its members and their money very seriously. We are never complacent and conduct regular testing of our systems to ensure that we maintain an appropriate level of protection, whilst ensuring a positive user experience. We will take the points raised by Which? on board as we continue to evolve our digital services."
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